Underlying the Dagon story is the great prophetic debate with paganism and with the heathen notion of conquering and vanquished gods. The Bible teaches that the Philistine victory was due to the will of God, for the idols are nothing but “the work of men’s hands”. In the story of the Ark and Dagon we are taught that Israel’s failure, as well as its success, comes from the universal God who exists even within the temple of Dagon.